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Just think of someone getting out of jail after 25 years. He has to adjust to regular life again on the "outside" and that can be very hard, and sometimes impossible.

Now, heres what happened, one guy from a halfway house in a small town in Canada killed someone. A halfway house is a sort of place where they slowly get used to outside life untill they eventualy live on thier own.

Someone who was released into this place killed someone in the town, and now they are tearing it down because the people dont want the house there!

So now what?!?! Put the person that just got out of prison, str8 onto the street??!?!

This is one of those "Not in my backyard" bullshit storys that really sadens me.

Please read about the story below.

Controversial Vernon halfway house to shut down

By ROD MICKLEBURGH
Friday, August 20, 2004 - Page A5

VANCOUVER -- Rocked by fierce community outrage over three killings linked to residents of a controversial halfway house in Vernon, B.C., Corrections Canada has decided to close it down after 35 years of operation.

"[Howard House] will either be empty or close to empty by the end of the year," Brian Lang, community corrections manager for B.C. and Yukon, said late yesterday.

"It could look like we are bowing to public pressure, but there have been two murders and a charge of murder [connected to Howard House], and you can't not respond to that."

A storm of public anger has swept over Howard House since Eric Norman Fish, a resident of the troubled facility, was charged this month with the beating death of a local senior during a violent home invasion.

The charge against Mr. Fish followed two other homicides in Vernon by Howard House parolees in eight years.

A large protest rally held outside the aging, two-storey building on Tuesday demanded Howard House be closed and the practice of releasing violent offenders on parole into the community of 36,000 be ended.

Mr. Lang acknowledged that the size of Howard House, capable of housing up to 27 offenders on parole, may not have been a good mix for such a small community.

"You just really reach a point where you can't sustain it any more. Something had to change. It could not be business as usual."

He said Howard House could reopen, but with greatly scaled-down responsibilities. That option is being discussed with Vernon civic authorities and directors of the John Howard Society, which has run the halfway house since it opened.

There would be fewer beds, a new building and more community involvement in selecting residents, Mr. Lang said.

"Even though there has been this terrible situation, it's refreshing that the value of halfway houses is still recognized. But a new Howard House would provide a much different service than it does now."

In the meantime, no new offenders will be sent to Howard House and none of the current 16 residents will be replaced as they complete their terms.

Once the population dwindles to a handful, Mr. Lang said that remaining residents will likely be transferred to a halfway house elsewhere.

Vernon is the smallest city in B.C. (Provience furthest west in Canada) to contain a federal halfway facility.

"We recognize that the community of Vernon has been through a terrible tragedy," Corrections Canada said in a statement.

"Our sympathy for the family [of William Abramenko, the homicide victim] and all those suffering from this traumatic event is sincere and deeply felt."